Arthur was sitting in a cafe having lunch the next day. He was on the phone talking to his sister.

"So how was career day?" she asked him.

"Mordred really enjoyed it," Arthur told her.

"Well, what did you think of it?" She was trying to get his reaction to meeting Merlin.

"I got there late because an urgent problem came up so I missed most of it but Mordred enjoyed it."

He then changed the subject and Morgana tried to hide her disappointment that her plan had failed. She'd just have to come up with another way for the two to meet.

XXX

A few days later, Arthur was sitting in a coffee shop having lunch. When the bell above the door rang he casually glanced up. He was instantly hypnotized by the profile of the tall, thin, dark haired man who walked in. The handsome guy went up to the counter to order and as he stood there, Arthur took the opportunity to check him out. He had killer cheekbones and wonderful full lips. His ears were sticking out from under his hair which was curling at the bottom.

When the guy was given his coffee, he smiled at the girl behind the counter and turned. Arthur and the stranger made eye contact for a moment. He instantly recognized him as Merlin, the fireman in the picture with Mordred. Merlin gave a shy smile before he broke the eye contact and walked back outside. In that short moment, Arthur felt lost in his stunning blue eyes.

Arthur looked out the window as Merlin walked away and noticed his nice broad shoulders and how good his arse looked in his uniform pants.

XXX

Arthur's mind kept drifting back to Merlin over the next few days and he would pull out his phone just so he could look at the picture. Arthur thought Merlin looked perfect there with his arm around Mordred with them both smiling. They just looked so natural together. He was tempted to talk to Morgana about Merlin but he knew she would be unbearable if she found out that he had an interest in someone.

XXX

Saturday afternoon, Arthur and Mordred were taking a walk through the park when Mordred went running over to some guy. The guy must have heard him running because he turned and when he saw Mordred he knelt down and gave him a big smile. Arthur realized it was once again Merlin.

"Hi Mordred, how are you?" Merlin signed.

"Great. What are you doing here?" the little boy signed back.

At that moment, a cute little dog ran up to Merlin and dropped a ball in his hand. "I brought my dog here to play ball," he signed.

By this time, Arthur was standing behind his son. Merlin looked up and as soon as Arthur saw his face, he gasped because Merlin was even more beautiful close up.

Mordred grabbed his dad's arm trying to get his attention because he seemed frozen just looking at the other man. Finally, Arthur realized what he'd been doing and shook his head slightly to try to clear it before he looked down at his son.

"Daddy, this is Merlin. He's the fireman that came to my class," he signed with a big smile on his face.

Arthur looked back at Merlin, and signed as well as spoke, "it's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you from my son. You made quite an impression on him. I'm Arthur, by the way."

Merlin gave another shy smile and an adorable blush spread across his face, neck and ears. Arthur knew he was done for as soon as he saw that smile and that blush.

"It's nice to meet you too. You have a wonderful son," Merlin signed and spoke back.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Mordred signed before he pulled out his phone. Arthur made sure his son had and knew how to use the phone in case he ever needed to get in touch with him. As it turned out, even at six, his son was quite proficient at using his phone.

Mordred held up his phone and showed it to Merlin. It was the picture his teacher had taken of the two of them that day at school. Merlin looked at the picture and signed, "that's a great picture of you."

"That's a great picture of both of you," Arthur quietly said which caused Merlin to blush even more than before.

Mordred then turned his attention to Merlin's dog and was petting it and laughing as the dog was licking his face.

Finally, Mordred stopped petting the dog long enough to sign, "what's it's name?"

"Her name is Spot," Merlin said with his hands.

"Can I play with her?" he signed.

Merlin smiled as he nodded yes. He then took the ball out of his pocket, where he'd stuck it a few minutes earlier.

He handed Mordred the ball and then knelt back down and started to sign. "Hold the ball in front of Spot so she can see it. Then hold your hand up with your palm facing her. That way she knows to sit and stay. Then throw the ball and she'll go get it and bring it back. When she brings it back, hold your hand out so she'll drop the ball into your hand. Think you can do that?"

Mordred nodded his head eagerly and Merlin nodded and smiled at him to go ahead. The little boy followed his directions and laughed and clapped when Spot brought him back the ball.

"Can I do it again?" he signed the question to Merlin.

Merlin nodded yes and the little boy went back to playing with the dog.

Merlin then stood up and turned around to see Arthur staring at him in awe. "You're amazing with him. Um, how come you know how to sign?"

"My best friend growing up was deaf and I learned it so I could talk to him."

The two men stood there silently and watched Mordred play with Spot for a few minutes until Arthur broke the silence. "Seriously? You named your dog Spot? Your girl dog...you named her Spot?"

"Well I couldn't think of a name so since she has a spot of white fur on her chest, that's what I started calling her. I did intend to change her name once I found one I liked, but she started to answer to Spot, so I never changed it."

They both laughed and from there the conversation seemed to flow. Arthur discovered that Merlin worked with his brother-in-law Leon and then it clicked into place. Merlin was probably the guy Morgana had been wanting to set him up with. Wow was he stupid. If he had known it was Merlin, he would have jumped at the opportunity when she first said something. Now he knew why she thought Merlin was perfect for him.

An hour had quickly passed. When Merlin realized what time it was he apologized and told Arthur he had to go because he had dinner plans with some friends.

Arthur was disappointed to see him leave but they exchanged numbers.

Before he walked away, Merlin walked over to Mordred who was sitting on the ground with Spot in his lap. "Thank you so much for playing with Spot. You did a great job with her. She really likes you," he signed.

"Can I play with her again?" Mordred asked in sign.

"Sure you can," he signed back with a smile.

Arthur walked over and signed to Mordred telling him Spot and Merlin needed to go and they should get going too.

Mordred looked at his dad and nodded, leaned over and gave Spot a big hug and kiss before he stood up. He then turned to Merlin and gave him a big smile and a hug.

Arthur's heart melted when he saw the smile on both their faces. He couldn't believe how wonderful this man was.

XXX

Arthur and Merlin started texting that night.

From Arthur: Hi. Are you home yet?

From Merlin: hi and yeah I am

From Arthur: How was your dinner?

From Merlin: it was nice

From Arthur: I hope I'm not bothering you.

From Merlin: no not at all. it's nice to hear from you

From Arthur: I wanted to thank you for today. You were great with Mordred.

From Merlin: he's a great kid

From Arthur: Thanks. I think so. I think you're pretty great too.

From Merlin: you're making me blush but thanks. I think you're pretty great too.

From Arthur: I hope this isn't too soon but will you go on a date with me?

From Merlin: not too soon and I'd really like that.

From Arthur: Are you doing anything tomorrow?

From Merlin: nothing I can't change.

From Arthur: Will you go out with me tomorrow then? Say around noon?

From Merlin: yes

From Arthur: Text me your address and I'll pick you up at noon.